The Colorado flag taken to the moon by Neil Armstrong is now back in the state and on display.

In July of 1969, a small Coloradan flag made a journey that led to a giant step for mankind. Now, 50 years after the moon landing, the flag that traveled with Neil Armstrong on the Apollo 11 mission is back in its home state and is on display.

Armstrong's family recently put the flag up for auction where it was consequently purchased by History Colorado, a historic museum and agency of the State of Colorado under the Department of Higher Education. The six-inch by four-inch flag was purchased using the Executive Director's Innovation Fund.

While History Colorado and Coloradans are proud to know their state flag made it all the way up to the moon, no one can tell for sure why Armstrong chose to bring the little flag with him on the most memorable journey of his life.

In an interview with 9NEWS, Jason Hansen, Chief Creative Officer of History Colorado, believes "it suggests that there was something meaningful about Colorado and he wanted to take it with him and bring it back to be able to tell people that this flag had been in space."

While there might not be known reason why Armstrong decided to take the Colorado flag with him, it is well known that astronauts can not carry an abundance of personal items on a space mission. It can be assumed that the flag must have meant something to Armstrong, either a personal attachment or as a tribute to others he held dear.

The astronauts made their way back to Earth with their personal belongings and an additional 47.5 pounds of moon rocks and dust. These were later mounted and distributed to the states as gifts under the orders of President Nixon.

The Colorado State Capital lent the rocks to History Colorado museum and will have some of them on display along with the state's flag. It's estimated the rocks are about three to 4.5 billion years old.

Aficionados of space, the lunar landing, or just proud Coloradans can now see the display at History Colorado for the price of general admission until September 2.

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